Nothing goes to waste
Every step of sugar production yields something useful. Cane fibre powers the mill. Molasses feeds animals and fuels distilleries. Even the sludge from clarification goes back into the soil.
Bagasse
Electricity from cane fibre
Bagasse is the fibrous residue left after sugarcane juice is extracted. Rather than discarding it, Zimbabwe's sugar mills burn bagasse in boilers to generate steam, which drives turbines to produce electricity. At optimum capacity, the mills generate up to 30 megawatts of power. This makes the mills largely energy self-sufficient during the crushing season. An electricity swap agreement with the Zimbabwe Power Company allows the mills to feed surplus power into the national grid during peak production and draw electricity during off-peak periods.
Molasses
Stock feed and ethanol feedstock
Molasses is the thick, dark syrup remaining after sugar crystals are separated by centrifuge. It contains residual sugars, minerals, and organic compounds. In Zimbabwe, molasses has two primary uses: as an ingredient in stock feed for cattle and other livestock, and as a feedstock for ethanol production.
Ethanol
30 million litres per year
Triangle's distillery, attached to the sugar factory, produces up to 30 million litres of industrial-grade rectified spirit (ethanol) annually from molasses. This ethanol is sold predominantly into regional markets. The government has explored ethanol blending requirements for fuel, which could expand demand.
Filter cake (mudcake)
Natural fertiliser
The sludge removed during juice clarification, called filter cake or mudcake, is rich in calcium, phosphorus, and organic matter. It is returned to the cane fields as a natural fertiliser, recycling nutrients back into the soil.
A naturally circular system
The sugar production process is inherently circular in several ways: bagasse provides energy, mudcake fertilises fields, and molasses feeds animals or produces ethanol. The cogeneration system reduces reliance on grid electricity and lowers the industry's carbon footprint.
With the right policy support, that circularity can deepen. Ethanol blending in motor fuel could expand demand for molasses-derived ethanol. Expanded cogeneration could see more bagasse-fired power feeding the national grid. In each case, the same plant that yields a kilogram of sugar also yields a kilowatt-hour, a litre of fuel, or a handful of fertiliser.
Read more about the production steps that produce these by-products on how sugar is made, the broader environmental picture on sugar and the environment, or the energy figures on the production statistics page.